The present invention relates to seating surfaces, and more particularly to flexible seating surfaces.
Seating surfaces have experienced many advances over the years. For example, the materials used in the seating surface, the manufacturing methods used to create the seating surface, and the visual appearance of the seating surface have all been improved over time.
Another area of advancement in seating surfaces involves the contouring of the seat. Much time and effort have been spent designing contoured seats that closely match the shape of a user's body. Although some prior art surfaces are closely contoured to a user's body, some of these surfaces still create high pressure areas in certain zones. This results in discomfort for the user, and possibly injury over an extended period of sitting.
Some prior art seating surface configurations include slotted configurations. However, in many of these slotted configurations, the slots appear to be randomly spaced across the entire seating surface. Some of these configurations therefore fail to recognize or address the specific high pressure areas present in certain zones of the seat.
Further, many prior art seating surfaces are designed for a narrow range of user weights. Many of these surfaces may work well for users within a narrow range of weights, but are less than desirable for users having a weight outside of the intended narrow weight range.
Although much advancement has been made in the field of seating surfaces, there remains room for improvement in this technology area.